Lightroom Adventure – Day 1

The adventure doesn’t officially begin until Friday, but photographers are trickling into Hobart one by one. Yesterday there were only five of us, British Photographer of the Year, Jackie King, National Geographic wizard, Bruce Dale, Lightroom wiz and all around innovator, Peter Krogh, brilliant Japanese photographer and documentarian, Aihara Masaaki, and our host, Mikkel Aaland. You’ll see images from all five in the video I whipped together from our first foray into Hobart last night.http://www.viddler.com/player/c8cccbdf/

Peter did that amazing 135 image montage of our plane landing in Hobart. The infrared images are by Bruce Dale. Many of the rest of the stills are from Mikkel Aaland. I shot and edited the video using the new Canon HV30 and Apple’s iMovie ’08. Thanks to Inverted Silence/Jim Kang for the song Berimbau.

We’ve been having so much fun, and the adventure has barely begun. If you’re in Hobart, please join us for our closing reception Sunday evening, 13 April at the Henry Jones Art Hotel. We’ll have prints on exhibition and for sale to benefit Save the Tasmanian Devil.

I spent part of the day exploring the waterfront and just got back from the Female Factory and the Cascade brewery. We’re going to do some Lightroom work tonight and I’ll start posting images tomorrow.

Gosh this Viddler thing is laggy in Australia. I thought it was bad when I uploaded a video earlier because it needed to encode or something, but even your video here is spending more time buffering than it is playing! Maybe their server’s are overloaded by a sudden increase in Rick Rolling?

Hello Leo.
Welcome to Australia!!
A quick restaurant tip for Hobart, Ball and Chain bar and grill on Salamanca Pl. Unbelievable steaks. I always go there at least once when I visit Hobart.
I hope you enjoy Tasmania, it is one of my favourite places to visit.
Cheers Tim.

Leo, I love your edit on this video. Short 2-3 second grabs to a great sound track. It was so interesting I had to watch it again. The video mixed in with photo stills with panning really worked. You’re a natural.Unfortunately you have now set yourself a high bar to maintain. No pressure!
What program did you use to edit it?
I loved your DV cam in Sydney with the wide lens. I was the one that borrow it to shot some of the crowd at the end. It was a solid feeling DV camera yet light weight too! Good wide screen view finder. Anyway enjoy your trip in Tassie.

Your first day in action looks great, well put together video (keep it up).
I can fully understand how you can feel “humbled” by your companions. Really love the idea of selling prints to go towards saving the Tassie Devil.
Love your work Leo.

Hey Leo,Yeah, it would be nice to have a meetup other than the 13th – I’d like to meet the guy who’s been filling up my iPod for the last 3 years.
Hope you like it here in Hobart (of course you will).
Also, video was pretty laggy for me.

Wow, Leo. That looks like a lot of fun. What a great idea to attend an event like this!
I’m looking forward to see more here. Thanks for taking the time to assemble the video and post for our enjoyment.

Hi Leo,
Not sure what we can do to help with your data dilemma. I could surely upload for you, uploads aren’t counted towards my quota and at any rate I can buy extra data blocks at $3/GB. Only 128Kbps upload speed tho.
Unfortunately that won’t help you with your normal web access or your downloads.
Anyway, nice video Leo.
Cheers,
Phred

Wow, fantastic first video Leo.
Some of the shots you guys are doing are absolutely breathtaking! Am I right that some of you are experimenting with HDR imaging on some of those shots?
Can’t wait for more! Keep up the great work.
–Justinhttp://www.justinflood.com

Leo: Be careful in the bush. Tasmanian snakes are the most dangerous in the world. I remember reading an Australian article a few years back by a woman. Both of her sons were experienced bushmen and had been bitten in separate incidents by a Tasmanian snake and both of them died. I have fished often in New Zealand with Australians, and I always ask them why they come to NZ for fishing which is excellent in Australia and their answer is inevitably Snakes!! Take care and stay out of the high grass. Bob

hope you guys are having a great time down under.
I use Mikkel’s Lightroom Adventure book in the classes I teach, and sure hope you all will be using LR 2.0, (out in Beta: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom/ ) for the new edition of the book!
my first reaction to 2.0 is: what, still no book (aka Aperture/iPhoto) printing!?! second: localized corrections, yeaaa!!!
thanks again for all the great work by the TWIT army!
all my best,
yamhttp://www.williamtolan.com/

As Manager of the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program, I am both very interested in your photographic adventure in Tassie, and also grateful to you for supporting the program that aims to ensure the survival of this charismatic species. Thanks for your support, good luck and I hope to make it on 13 April to check out the photos. Hasta luego.

Hi Leo, a fan here, I was about to tell you that Scott Simon of NPR fame (BRILLIANT) will be in SF tomorrow night. But alas you are off having fun. He was AMAZING here in Seattle tonight. Anyone that does not know Scott, please check him out. Those that do know what I refer to.
Leo, great stuff from down under man. That is why I thought you’d like Scott. You guys both are real.
Bill Janis

Hi Leo,
Love it that you have come to town – hope you appreciate this special weather we have put on for you.
I live and work around Salamanca/Battery Point, so I can really connect with how your group have captured the locations and light.
Suggestions for other random locations 10-30 mins from your hotel that are worthy of your time – Snug Falls, Kettering marina, penguins at Blackman’s Bay, The Springs, Royal Botanical Gardens, Rosny lookout, Hobart Community garden, the old Battery Point shipyards, or the deserted old mental institution buildings in New Norfolk.
If possible, avoid the twee “historic” but mostly rebuilt tourist town close to Hobart but don’t miss the forgotten georgian villages of Bothwell and Oatlands. Not much has changed in Oaty since Lord Snowdon photographed it in1980, or ever in the last 150 years really. Tech heads will shrivel up and die if left there for too long, but so worth it for photo buffs.
This tour guide is available if you need more true local insider’s help.
PS I highly recommend The Drunken Admiral for top, fresh seafood, right opposite the Grand Chancellor monolith.

Welcome to Tasmania Leo. I hope you enjoy your trip and I look forward to the meet up.
I hope you can get into some mountain areas and get photos of the Nothofagus gunnii in autumn foliage (our only winter-deciduous plant!). We have a lot of spectacular true wilderness here.
Also if I may, I’d recommend that you check out the photographic work of Peter Dombrovskis, he is a true Tasmanian icon and his work has changed the course of Australian green politics, probably more than once.
BTW, don’t listen to Robert L. Thornburgh. I have lived in Tassie my whole life and I have hardly ever been bitten by deadly snakes ;-).
Save the Devil.
Gerry

Something geeky for you to see in OZ Remember in Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson when Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse ends up in Australia? He builds a computer that uses long tubes of mercury as RAM ?
Well you can see the computer that his is based on. Its the oldest surviving computer, and its in the Melbourne museum. Its the CSIRAC, here is my (bad) pic http://www.flickr.com/photos/withoutdirection/116171305/
Enjoy…

Hi there Leo
Im Peter, from way over the other side of Australia, in Perth.
I have been a fan of yours, since stumbling onto Call for Help, on the old TechTV channel, on Foxtel.
Hope your enjoying Tassie, despite the weather. The pics and video you have posted already, has inspired me to finally check out Tassie in the near future.
Anyways, something that has nothing to do with tech or Tassie 😉 Have you ever wondered Leo, what you might look like, if you had actually grew up in Australia, and became an Australian politician ?
Well have a look at Malcolm Turnbull’s site below. It might give you an idea!!http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/default.aspx
I think you two, could easily pass as brothers.
I am looking forward, in seeing more of the pics and videos, of your Tassie adventure (or is it classed as work?).
Cheers

Hey Leo welcome down under! The video was great ( no lag here ).
As you know you have a large following of fans here in Australia and probably learning fast that Tassie is one of the most scenic places on earth so we’re looking forward to hearing and seeing how the trip goes down here.
All the best mate
Dave
Byron Bay

Hi Leo, the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program has some new attractive pull up banners and flags with images of the devil and the program name and website (www.tassiedevil.com.au). Would you be happy to have some around on 13 April at the exhibition in the Henry Jones IXL Hotel Atrium? If someone could let me know, I will arrange for them to be there. Cheers Steve (Program Manager, Save the Tas Devil)